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It’s that time of the year.
Time to buy a back pack and a lunch box and a new pair of shoes.
Even though I don’t personally have kids to prep back to school this year, I celebrate the beginning of the school year with the same bittersweet nostalgic pangs most of you parents do too.
As you head out to buy new backpacks, I start working just a little bit harder in the ER. I get really great at writing gym notes and work excuses. Gone are the lazy summer days of fractures and lacerations, and in come days of wheezing and nausea.
I love every bit of it. The nervous first grader. The depressed teenager. The frantic parents. As I consider the angst that the beginning of the school year brings to most kids, I realize that they aren’t very different than the fears that you and I still face today.
So whether you’re about to start the first grade, or are getting ready to face another day at work, you may still be asking yourself these 4 questions about the first day of school.
1. Do I have the right outfit? Nothing screams first days of school than the struggle to find just the right outfit at just the right store with just the right sale. Every girl and every boy’s struggle with appearances is reflected through the search for just the right outfit. After all, your outfit will determine your identity for possibly the next 4 years, so you’d better choose it well. And as I get ready for another week at work, I’ve never been more thankful for scrubs. They are cheap, they are comfortable, and they tell who I am. Wish I could have worn them in the 6th grade.
2. Will I have friends? Maybe even more relevant than appearances is the issue of relationships. Who will sit with me at lunch? Who will be my friend? The desire for friendship and relationships continues to plague my insecure heart well into my 30s. It’s at the core of who we are. Perhaps the question to ask oneself this season isn’t “Will I have friends” but “Will I be a friend”? Proverbs 18:24 says “whoever has friends must show himself friendly”. That verse has carried me through a good part of the last few decades. Learn it now. It will help.
3. Will I be good enough? Ah. Performance matters as much in the Kindergarten classroom as it does on the playground. Will I measure up? Will I succeed? The secret that most of us have learned over time is that some days we will be good enough, while other days, we just won’t. It’s the way it is. Do you feel like you never measure up? Here’s some good news: you don’t have to. Jesus Christ has already done the most important work for you and me. There’s so much freedom in knowing Him. And as long as I’m giving Christ my best, I’ve got a margin and He’s got my back.
4. What will I eat for lunch? Nothing depresses me more than a brown paper bag with a PB and J sandwich on white bread. I’m sorry if you love it. I don’t. It makes me feel poor and nerdy. As far as I’m concerned, the cool kids always got to eat the hot lunches or drove to Hardee’s in their cars. Money matters in 6th grade as much as it does in mid life. Or does it? We have been led to believe that the more we have the happier we will be. Frankly, the way I see it, Hardees stinks and it makes you fat too. Hold financial things lightly. They don’t matter as much as everyone tells you they do.
Are you ready for recess yet?
You got it. Talk to you tomorrow. Meanwhile, cheer up. October is on the way!
